Mailbox Peak 1.29.03

I left the Middle Fork Rd. amid a pretty steady rain. The trail to Mailbox is as steep as ever, it is in pretty good shape with some water over the trail. The cool wet weather stole my drive and with the long climbs of the last 3 weeks sapping the strength of my legs, I could only muster it to 2800ft. I did not hit snow and I don't think there is any until the rock slide. I passed 3 guys on the way down, I hope they had better luck than I.

Mt Teneriffe Saddle 1.24.03

I got a really late start so I decided to do something close. I arrived at the end of the Mt. Si Road at 1:30. I took the logging road until the saddle just south of Ranchor Lake. I then left the logging round on the easy to follow trail that leads towards Teneriffe. The trail follows to ridge line and is very easy to follow due to the lack of snow. I left the snowshoes in the car today which was a good thing because I didn't hit sustained snow until 3700ft. There is hardly any snow once you leave the logging road. The weather was fairly warm low 40's on the summit. The last 300ft of climb is fairly steep and is very slippery on the descent. I reached the summit at 4:15 and only stayed a few minutes. I hurried back (mostly in the dark) and reached the car at 6:30.

Trip stats 14+ miles Total time 5 hours Total climb 4000ft

Grantie Lakes Road 5124' 1/14/03

I decided to repeat last weeks trek up Granite Lakes Rd.. Instead of going towards Thompson Lake like last week I continued on climbing on the road. I continued on until I reached the cabin that is due west of point 5124. The cabin's door was at least 15 feet above ground. To enter the cabin you would have to climb two sets of pegs that were driven in the structure. I sure wouldn't want to sleep walk in this cabin. I then headed due east a short ways to reach Pt. 5124. Great views of Gifford Lakes and Russian Butte in between cloud breaks. There is very little snow, I would say snowshoes are hardly needed.

Trip stats 18+ miles 4400 ft of climb 6:15 total time.

Thompson Lake 1.7.03

Left the middle fork rd. at 1230 up the granite creek rd. I wanted a somewhat long day to work off the holiday cheer. I made my way up the long way to Granite Lakes, I did not need snowhoes until approx 3200 ft. . With such a beautiful day and with a road exit I decided to push a little further finally hitting the Thompson Lake trailhead at 3:15, I continued on with the initial descent, after dropping a 100ft of elevation I found a nice sunny spot to soak up as much of the winter rays as I could. There was very little snow on the trail and was easy to follow. After a 20 minute sun bath I hit the return trail. By the time I reached the car it was very dark with a very nice crescent moon to light the way.

Approx 14 miles round trip with 3400 ft of climb Total hiking time 5:00